The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-11-09
A SEEKER AFTER KNOWLEDGE.

Mr.. BENJAMIN r. Stuart Proposes to
Adopt the Modes and Methods
Which We have Long Since Aban-
dOned as Impractical, Undesfra-
BILE, and Unproftable.
We ask attention tn the letter OF Mr.. Ben
Iamin r. stuart, of Charleston, which appears
elsewhere in these columns. He cares not
to hear from the Press and Banner, but ap-
peaIs 10 some Of the older citizens OF Abbe-
Vile county to furnish him and tile respect
able set OF gentlemen" with whom he Is as
sociated, information as to the cause OF the
failure Of the manual labor schools In this
county. We trust therefore. that some OF
our readers may furnish the Information
for the benefit of tue respectable set OF
gentleman" while the Press and Banner will
endearor 10 furnish to the general public
some of the facts which lead us TO say that
success for the scheme In which this respect
able set OF gentlemen" are engaged, Is be.
yond the range OF s, possibility, but even if
1t were possibility to raise the money, then
the plan is utterly and absolutely impractical.
bic, and will certainly fail In its benctcent
objects, for many reasons:
/. The declarations In the prospectus show
plainly that the managers or corporntors oi
ihc Institution arc impractical and visionary
In their notions
2. Everybody knows that an educated ne.
gro does not want To work on the farm.
When he learns TO read and write his use
g. The Board of Trustees say they want a
IA large tract, say 10000 acres" Ten thou.
sand acres! Whew! Where does the com
mittee expect to get SO large II tract utSide ol
the swamps of the coast or the peaks ana
sides Of the mountains? Swnmps and moun.
talns are not the best adapted for agricultural
eXperiments-as well send the colorcd youth
TO the jungles OF Africa rs to the swamps o
South Carolina. If the committee undertook
10 get ten thousand acres in upper South Car
oIina they would depopulate about whole
townshp--and that amount of land would
cost at least q hundred thousand dollars-ten
dollars an acre.
4. What is meant by "freedom of plan and
action untrammelled," Is not clear, and when
they want to keep away "ouiside and evil
Influences" we are left in doubt, II they
want to establish negro quarter" on the
old time plan where poor white trash" and
others may not come.dt will not work.
5. To build the church, hospital, school
house, students quarters, professors homes
barns, dairy and other necessary buildings
would cost another hundred thousand dol
lars.
G. To buy libraries, household and kitchen
| furniture, mules, wagons, farm Implements
cost another hundred thousand dollars.
Z. To pay the professors or teachers. to In
sure the property, to keep up repairs, ano
replace worn out or dead stock, would require
an an nual outlay about ten times as great as
the whole annual contributions OF the EpiS
copal church in South Carolina for ull pur
| poses, except rectOrS' salaries.
g. Even with the farm bought and paid
for, and with all the horses, mules, and every
| thing else paid for, where would decent
Southerner be found who would be willinl
to take himself and his family to the middle
of ten thousand acre farm, occupied entire
| ly by negroes?
.. Even with the professors Installed
where are the negro boys to come from tt
keep up the place?
10. 4 school isolated Is not desirable fol
| triton or contact with the outside world, as
they do from books. For this reason first
class negroes would not go toa place of isola
ton to be educated-to so speak, in q sort o
convent.
Ii. The insinuation twice repeated in the
prospectus that the negroes are not indus
irious, honest and truthful, would preclude
the possibility Of self-respecting negroes nc
cepting their charity.
i2. Under the present public school sys
tenn, there is no need whatever for the pro
posed school. Manual lubor schools, as Mr.
%sa 1h srSoos erey sonh l Sm caSa e' bf
tuition is free TO all. The children OF poor pa
rents practically adopt the manual labor sys
tenn at home. and while going to, school earn
their living beneath the parental roof. They
school, and they work after returning. from
school. They do chores about the house
They cut wood, make fires bring water, milk
cows, feed the stock, cook the meals, and dc
whatever else Is 10 be done.
l3. As the half grown children In our pub
lie schools earn daily more than their board
at home, why should they go abroad to do nc
more?
ii. There is more humbuggery to the square
inch In boarding schools than in anything
else that we know Of If parents have goot
school at their own doors, they are foolish t.
incur the expense Of board, and the exposure
10 temptation, which is always incident tt
IS. The ubsurdty of the proposition to es
tablsh an Industrial School" may be more
seen of Mngn in the the Episcopal
Church In this State aggregates only
about four thousand souls. and nowhere
is it plain that this respectable set OF gentle
men" represent the sentiments Of any con
side OF preachers salaries, has heretofore
raised total of only about 5000 a year fol
missions. church work, and all other benev
Client causes.
Having given the reader some OF our rea
sons for believing the Industrial mission
school" is nothing more than visionary
scheme for which there is no actual need
and for which, If established, there is no pos
sbilty of hope for success, we trust that
some one Will answer Mr. Stuart's letter.
We publish the will OF Dr. Della Howe. II
is an Interesting document, which our sub
will show the origin of the Della Howe
school in this county. The people know
how the public schools, by offering superl.
or inducements to scholars, took the
and Its endowment is In good hands. The
farm rented last week for eighteen bales ol
cotton, and eleven thousand dollars Of good
notes bring in ten per cent interest. Efforts
will be made to change the terms of the will
so that this large estate may be available
for the benevolent purpose for which it was
intended.
The COkesbury manual labor school had
the undivided support OF the Methodist'
In this state. Living witnesses are ready tt
prove that it was found 10 be impracti cticable
and that the plan was abandoned-yearly re
duclng The hours OF labor until finally ne
groes were hired to do the work. WoforC
College was established, and the support o
the church withdrawn, and its history wa'
complete.